Vive La Musique: Hull Philharmonic – Live Review – Hull City Hall
By Karl Hornsey, March 2026
Sacré bleu. Formidable. Magnifique. I’ll stop there, as you get the gist. The Hull Philharmonic played their first concert of the year at Hull City Hall, and what a fabulous evening it proved to be. Vive La Musique brought together pieces by four of the very best French composers – Berlioz, Delibes, Ravel and Saint-Saens – under the baton of musical director Simon Chalk, who promised an unforgettable and, quite simply, fun evening, and that’s exactly what we received.
While a couple of the later pieces were always likely to be the ones grabbing the attention, the overture to Berlioz’s Le Carnaval Romain that opened the concert was a truly wonderful experience. The overture is essentially a fine piece of recycling on behalf of the composer, who originally wrote it for the opera Benvenuto Cellini, which was so badly received that it didn’t last long at all but, thankfully, Berlioz kept hold of the eight minutes of music that is a joy to listen to. The combination of slow lyrical moments and faster folk dance works a treat, as does the use of cymbals and cor anglais, among others, bringing lesser-heard instruments to the fore. That was followed by the Ballet Suite from Delibes’ Sylvia, featuring four pieces of light and airy music, including a waltz and the delightful pizzicato, so beloved by Tchaikovsky, no less.
“Full power”
To end the first half of the concert, we were treated – and it really was one of the finest treats I’ve ever heard from the Hull Philharmonic – to Ravel’s Bolero. I’ll admit, I’ve never considered myself a huge fan of this piece, perhaps having heard it too often or despairing of it being so synonymous with Torvill & Dean’s Winter Olympics glory of 1984. But this was an absolute triumph that took the breath away. It’s such a unique piece, featuring the same hypnotic and repetitive melody played 18 times by different instruments over the constant snare drum rhythm – which itself is repeated just the 169 times! From such a quiet start, this just builds and builds and builds, extra instruments and sections joining the fray and adding layer upon layer to the crescendo, sending tingles down the spine as the whole orchestra are involved at its climax. Simply astonishing to hear played so well live on stage.
That was always going to be hard to follow after the interval, but the introduction of the mighty Hull City Hall organ certainly ran it close. This magnificent instrument came into its own for Saint-Saens’ Symphony No 3, often referred to as the Organ Symphony, even though that only plays its part well after the symphony has got going. Seeing organist Robert Poyser sat at the organ, eagerly waiting to get involved and unleash the might of the instrument was fun itself, and once he demonstrated its full power into the hall, it really was to stunning effect. Of course, the symphony is best known for being the theme to the wonderful film Babe, so it’s a familiar one once the organ kicks in, and it was pure joy to hear Poyser bring the concert to a wonderful climax with the hall filled with glorious organ music. Magnifique, indeed.
Karl’s love of writing was piqued at the age of eight, when he won a Blue Peter badge in an essay-writing competition. The location of said badge might be a mystery now, but the memory never fades. Hours spent writing about sport as a teenager, in pre-internet years when you had to make your entertainment, honed his skills, and Karl has worked in TV and radio listings at PA Media for 28 years, and the age of hybrid working means 50% of that can be at home listening to Classic FM and thinking about his next visit to his beloved Yorkshire Dales.
@KarlHornsey, hornskar
